Prawn is a

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

for small aquatic

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopoda, isopods, barnacles, copepods, ...

s with an

exoskeleton An exoskeleton (from Greek ''éxō'' "outer" and ''skeletós'' "skeleton") is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to an internal skeleton ( endoskeleton) in for example, a human. In usage, some of the ...

and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010
''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature's most confusing terms''
Pages 106–109, John Wiley & Sons. . is used particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Commonwealth nations, for large swimming crustaceans or

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

, especially those with commercial significance in the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

. Shrimp that are present in this category often belong to the suborder Dendrobranchiata. In North America, the term is used less frequently, typically for freshwater shrimp. The terms shrimp and prawn themselves lack scientific standing. Over the years, the way they are used has changed, and in contemporary usage the terms are almost interchangeable.

Shrimp'' vs. ''prawn

Regional distinctions

The terms shrimp and prawn originated in Britain. In the use of common names for species, shrimp is applied to smaller species, particularly species that are

dorsoventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

ly depressed (wider than deep) with a shorter rostrum. It is the only term used for species in the family

Crangonidae Crangonidae is a family of shrimp, of the superfamily Crangonoidea, including the commercially important species ''Crangon crangon''. Its type genus In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and th ...

, such as the common shrimp or brown shrimp, '' Crangon crangon''. Prawn is never applied to very small species. It is applied to most of the larger forms, particularly species that are laterally compressed (deeper than wide) and have a long rostrum. However, the terms are not used consistently. For example, some authors refer to '' Pandalus montagui'' as an Aesop shrimp, while others refer to it as an Aesop prawn.Holthuis, L. B. (1980) tp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/ac477e/ac477e02.pdf ''Shrimps and prawns of the world''Volume I of the FAO species catalogue, Fisheries Synopsis No.125, Rome. . Commonwealth countries, and Ireland, tend to follow British usage. Some exceptions occur in Australia, where some authors refer to small species of the Palaemonidae as prawns and call the Alpheidae pistol shrimp. Other Australian authors have given the name banded coral shrimp to the prawn-like '' Stenopus hispidus'' and listed "the Processidae and Atyidae as shrimps, the Hippolytidae, Alpheidae,

Pandalidae The family Pandalidae is a taxon of caridean shrimp. These species are commonly called pandalid shrimp. They are edible and have high economic value. They are characterised by the subdivided carpus of the second pereiopod and, mainly, by the lac ...

and Campylonotoidea as prawns". New Zealand broadly follows British usage. A rule of thumb given by some New Zealand authors states: "In common usage, shrimp are small, some three inches or less in length, taken for food by netting, usually from shallow water. Prawn are larger, up to 12 inches long, taken by trapping and trawling."Richardson LR and Yaldwyn JC (1958
A Guide to the Natant Decapod Crustacea (Shrimps and Prawns) of New Zealand
''Tuatara'', 7 (1). In Canada, the terms are often used interchangeably as in New Zealand (larger species are prawn and smaller are often shrimp), but regional variations exist. In western provinces, prawn is almost exclusively the general term. South Africa and the former British colonies in Asia also seem to generally follow British usage. Shrimp is the more general term in the United States. The term prawn is less commonly used in the United States, being applied mainly to larger shrimp and those living in fresh water.

References

* Bauer, Raymond T. 200
"Remarkable Shrimps: Adaptations and Natural History of the Carideans"
University of Oklahoma Press. . * De Grave, S., Cai, Y. & Anker, A. (2008
"Global diversity of shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) in freshwater"
''Hydrobiologia'', 595 : 287–293. * * Fransen, C. H. J. M. & De Grave, S. (2009
"Evolution and radiation of shrimp-like decapods: an overview"
In: Martin J.W., Crandall K.A., Felder D.L. (eds.), ''Decapod Crustacean Phylogenetics''. CRC Press, pp. 246–259. * Holthuis, L. B. (1980

Volume I of the FAO species catalogue, Fisheries synopsis 125, Rome. . * Kaplan, Eugene H. (2010
''Sensuous Seas: Tales of a Marine Biologist''
Princeton University Press. . * Meyer, R., Lochner, S. & Melzer, R. R. (2009
Decapoda – Crabs, Shrimps & Lobsters
pp. 623–670 In: Häussermann, V. and Förster, G. (eds) ''Marine Benthic Fauna of Chilean Patagonia: Illustrated Identification Guide'', Nature in Focus. . * Poore, Gary (2004
''Marine Decapod Crustacea of Southern Australia: A Guide to Identification
' Csiro Publishing. . * Fearnley-Whittingstall, H. & Fisher, N. (2007
''The River Cottage Fish Book''
Page 541–543, Bloomsbury Publishing. . * Roberts, Callum (2009
''The unnatural history of the sea''
Island Press. . * Rudloe, Jack and Rudloe, Anne (2009
''Shrimp: The Endless Quest for Pink Gold''
FT Press. . * Ruppert, E. E., Fox, R. S. & Barnes, R. D. (2004
''Invertebrate zoology: A functional evolutionary approach''
7th edition, Thomson-Brooks/Cole. . *

External links

Shrimp versus prawnshrimp, lobster, crab
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Shrimp versus prawns
– YouTube {{Meat Animal-based seafood Commercial crustaceans Decapods Edible crustaceans Arthropod common names

Shrimp'' vs. ''prawn

Regional distinctions

References

Further reading

External links